"Coach emphasized 'losing yourself in the game' today," Harrison Barnes said. "It was good to see our fans behind us and see this team come together."

It's not that the Tar Heels weren't committed before Kentucky came to town, or that they didn't want to win at Illinois, or that they didn't care when they lost to Minnesota and Vanderbilt in Puerto Rico two weeks ago.

Of course they wanted to win.

But did they believe they were going to win?

Did they expect to win?

Those are different questions entirely, questions whose answers show through body language and aura.

On Saturday, there was a sense of life and a sense of urgency that this team hasn't showed before.

It was Barnes hitting a three-pointer then following it up with a put-back dunk off an offensive rebound and flexing his muscles as the Smith Center crowd went wild.

Barnes is a thinker, and he rarely shows emotion.

But the dunk, the flex, the roar, the wave for everybody to get out of their seats, was the type of response everyone has been waiting for from Barnes.

It was Tyler Zeller showing an increased aggressiveness on defense, blocking a career-high five shots and being a presence in the paint.

Zeller is so skilled that his game consists of more than a one-step-and-bull-your-way-to-the-basket approach, but there are times when that ferocity is what's needed from Zeller.

"Tonight was my night to step up, and I did it," Zeller said.

It was John Henson igniting the offense in the first half and then taking Kentucky's sensational freshman Terrence Jones one-on-one on defense and holding the rookie to nine points on 3-for-17 shooting and only one offensive rebound.

"The scouting report (on the left-handed Jones) was camp on his left hand, don't foul him going right, contain and box him, and (understand) he's a one-on-one player," Henson said. "I sensed him getting a little upset, and you like to see that and you feed off that."

It was Dexter Strickland, Larry Drew, et al., tightening down on perimeter defense in the second half and doing their part to keep Kentucky's guards, namely freshmen Doron Lamb and Brandon Knight, in check.

Lamb and Knight still combined to score 39 points, but the duo struggled to get the rest of the offense involved and registered only seven assists.

But mostly it was Zeller.

His 27 points and 11 rebounds don't speak to the impact he had on this game and don't speak to his leadership and growth.

Take these numbers instead: 11-for-12 from the line including 10 consecutive in the game's final five minutes.